BELTON, Texas — Belton resident Joanna Howell said she hired Texas Asphalt Chip and Seal back in 2023 after buying a home with her husband, wanting to pair it with the perfect driveway on land they hope will last their family for generations.
In January, Howell reached out to the company on Facebook through an ad they were running and began talking with the owner, Martin McDonald, about coming out to their property to begin work.
"He measured the road, gave me a quote and I felt like I was getting a really good deal and they started work right away," Howell said.
Howell said they were quoted $18 thousand for repaving of the 1/4 mile long driveway and said the work, and workers appeared legit. She said McDonald brought materials, machines and a crew, and within a couple of days the work was complete, or so McDonald said.
"He was finished and we met him out at the property," Howell said, adding the meeting was strategically at the foot of their driveway where work appeared complete. "He said he was in a rush and had to get to Austin, but we looked around and it looked fine so we gave him the check."
But when Howell left the front portion of the driveway after McDonald left, she said it was "all loose gravel, piles and piles" and "obviously they didn't put enough tar down for the gravel to stick."
Howell said they called McDonald immediately after walking their "new" driveway for the first time and said McDonald told them it would take two weeks for the gravel to stick, at which point McDonald would return with the tar and finish the job.
Two weeks has now turned into a year and three months. In that time, Howell said McDonald has cut off all forms of communication, and taken down his original Facebook page where they first contacted him.
"It's almost as if he planned to meet us at the front where it looked better and maybe there was some kind of city standard where it meets the public road, but when you get further it's just loose gravel," Howell said.
The Howells have since hired a lawyer and said the lawyer intended to send McDonald a demand letter but their lawyer couldn't find him at the address or website he provided.
"We contacted him under the name Texas Asphalt Chip & Seal, the last person he did this to was under Central Texas Asphalt Chip & Seal," Howell said. "So I know he's just out there changing the name to find more customers."
Howell said they even had another asphalt company out to examine the work and they said it was "terrible" and was "beyond repair."
"Just to undo what he's done would be $30,000; on top of the $18,000 we already paid for it," Howell said.
The Howells said it wasn't just the material that was laid incomplete, Howell said the driveway width was supposed to be uniform from the head to the foot--long enough so emergency vehicles could easily get in and out, but McDonald, they said, took in the road four feet more than intended.
As of February, Howell said all communication has been cut off and the work they've done to build a dream home, on a dream piece of land from the ground up, has been stained by a driveway that's "really disappointing."
Howell said they've since filed a police report with the Belton Police Department, and they're considering pursuing civil action against McDonald.
"Why do this," Howell said. "He had materials here, he had manpower here, machinery here, why not just do it right? To find out that he's done it to more people than just us is disappointing."
Howell said McDonald originally supplied her with references of his work, and she believed he had given them a good price.
"Once we get an address to find out where he is, we'll serve him with papers and pursue legal action," Howell said.
6 News reached out to McDonald several times via phone before the publishing of this story and left messages with callback information, but have not heard back.
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